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Ok, so I really don't want to burst anyones bubble, but I stumbled upon this question:

How do I update the BIOS of a Dell laptop?

And I'm wondering - what does this even remotely have to do with Ubuntu?

Yes, I'm aware that you might be able to upgrade your BIOS from Linux, as well as you can do it from Windows or any other OS. But still, updating BIOS/UEFI has (in my opinion) nothing to do with the Ubuntu operating system. In any case, the Ubuntu related answers could as well apply to any other Linux distro.

Is there an option to migrate such questions to another Stack Exchange site, do we close it, or do we just accept that it was a different time 10 years ago?

Have a nice day everyone. 😊

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  • IIRC questions older than 60 days can't be migrated without intervention from SE devs
    – muru
    Oct 28, 2021 at 9:30
  • Fair. Also, I should mention, this doesn't bother me at all, I was just wondering. But I believe BIOS update questions, as well as other questions not about Ubuntu would sit better elsewhere. Oct 28, 2021 at 9:31

1 Answer 1

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I would say that questions about the BIOS are off topic, yes. As you correctly point out, the BIOS isn't part of the OS. However, the question you linked to isn't really about BIOS but about how one can upgrade the BIOS using Ubuntu. It is, therefore, a question about Ubuntu falling under the general category of "How do I do foo on Ubuntu". So I would say it is perfectly on topic.

A rule of thumb could be that if the question is asking about configuring the BIOS, so that the answers wouldn't involve Ubuntu at all, then it is off topic. However, if it is asking about using Ubuntu to do something, whatever that something is, then it is on topic.

Finally, I want to address your point that "Ubuntu related answers could as well apply to any other Linux distro". That is not relevant in any way since every single answer on this site would also be applicable to other distributions. There's nothing unique about Ubuntu: Ubuntu is based on Debian and many other distributions are based on Ubuntu. This means that anything applicable to Ubuntu is bound to also be applicable to at least some other distributions. There are very few things that are specific to any distribution, let alone one as widely used and built upon as Ubuntu, so whether a solution is applicable to other distros really isn't a consideration when considering what is on topic. Also see: Are "not only Ubuntu-specific" questions on-topic?.

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  • I agree, and good points. Maybe it was the way that specific question was worded (it doesn't actually say that he wants to update using Ubuntu), and also the fact that some of the upvoted answers (this and this) does not concern Ubuntu at all. It can be a blurry line at times .. Oct 28, 2021 at 10:07
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    @ArturMeinild what makes me feel the question is about Ubuntu is that the OP mentions that Dell only provide an .exe, so they need something that would work on Ubuntu. As for the answer you mention, that is an answer that can be used by an Ubuntu user: it just describes how to make a USB stick so that you can update without using Windows. So if I'm an Ubuntu user and I need to upgrade my BIOS, that is an answer I can follow. I would say that's enough to make it welcome here.
    – terdon
    Oct 28, 2021 at 10:10

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